Shermana
Heretic
Also with Iraneus.
How the early Church fathers viewed Jesus
Justin clearly called Jesus an angel and "a god".
How the early Church fathers viewed Jesus
Irenaeus (died ca. 200 CE) was the one who introduced the four gospels in the canon of the New Testament. He was a central figure in early Gentile Christianity. He believed that the only true God is the Father. He wrote, “... that we may learn through Him {Jesus} that the Father is above all things {i.e. including Jesus}. For ‘the Father,’ says he {says Jesus}, ‘is greater than I.’ The Father, therefore has been declared by our Lord to excel {above Jesus} with respect to knowledge ...” He wrote that there is “one God” and “one Christ”: “... that there is one God, Creator of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the prophets; and one Christ {Jesus} the son of God. If any one do not agree to these truths, he despises the companions {disciples} of the Lord {Jesus}.” Irenaeus said that this is what the Jewish Christians, “the companions of the Lord,” believed: “one God” and “one Christ {Jesus}.” He also wrote, “... God of Abraham ... who are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, {you are} the only true God ... grant, by our Lord Jesus Christ, {and} the governing power of the Holy Spirit, give to every reader of this book to know You, that You are God alone ...” Irenaeus made it clear that Jesus was not God. Irenaeus also wrote, “... that this Being alone is truly God and Father, who both formed this world, fashioned man ...” Irenaeus believed that God created the world through Jesus, as he explains here: “ ‘For He {God} commanded and they were created; He spoke, and they were made’ Whom, therefore did He command? The Word {Jesus}.” Irenaeus also wrote that Jesus was “a god”: “But he {Jesus} is himself in his own right, beyond all men who ever lived, a god {Gr. theos, without the article} and Lord, and King eternal, and the incarnate Word.” He called Jesus “a god” in the same sense as Philo called the Word “a god,” or as Paul and John called Jesus “a god.” He considered Jesus the Archangel: an “improperly called god.”
Justin clearly called Jesus an angel and "a god".
Justin Martyr was a prominent apologist of Christianity in the first half of the second century CE. He affirmed the superiority of God over Jesus: “... we know no ruler more kingly or just than He {Jesus} except God {the Father} who begot Him.” In other words, “God is more kingly than Jesus.” He also wrote that God begat Jesus, before he created the world, and that Jesus was the captain of God’s army (i.e. the Archangel): “... God begat, before all creatures, a Beginning {Jesus} ... who is called by the Holy Spirit {in the Holy Scriptures}, now {heis called} the Glory of the Lord, now {he is called} the Son, again Wisdom, again {he is called} an Angel, then a god, and then Lord and Logos; and on another occasion He calls Himself Captain, when He appeared in human form to Joshua the son of Nave {Nun}.” Justin Martyr did not mix God with Jesus. His phrase “again an Angel, then a god” indicates that the titles “angel” and “god” were synonymous. Justin Martyr also wrote that God is the cause of all things: “ ‘But what do you call God?’ said he. ‘That which always maintains the same nature, and in the same manner, and is the cause of all other things--that, indeed, is God.’ So I answered him.’ ” He believed that God is the cause of all things. He is the cause of Jesus. He begat Jesus. Justin Martyr believed that God “always maintains the same nature.” This implies that Jesus is not God. Jesus did not maintain the same nature. He assumed the human nature. He considered Jesus “an improperly called god”: an angel. Here is a quotation from Justin Martyr that is of great theological importance: “{we believe that:} ... He is the Son of the living God Himself, and believe Him to be in the second place, and the Prophetic Spirit in the third.” The Father God comes first, Jesus comes second, and the Holy Spirit comes third.